Orinda Jazz Festival moves to library this year

ORINDA -- The second annual Orinda Jazz Festival will offer a breath of fresh air to the local music scene with an added outdoor venue and free workshops led by an admirable roster of artists.

Moving this year from the Orinda Theatre to the Orinda Library auditorium and outdoor courtyard will allow co-producer Carol Alban to add an essential feature.

"We really wanted to add the outdoor component," Alban says, one week before the event. "It's more festive, like a concert in the park."

With a contingency plan to slip into the nearby community center gymnasium, should the September sun turn into showers, Alban isn't worried. She's too busy throwing together the schedule and hustling to complete the donations of food and beverages.

"Local businesses are so sweet, I know they'll say 'yes,' " she says, sounding disingenuous, until she describes last year's efforts.

"I just walked in and asked and they all said 'Sure!' " she recalls.

Compiling an impressive array of performers requires more consideration, something she and co-founder and Executive Director Beau Behan have worked hard to achieve.

Praising the "fiery renditions" of fingerstyle master guitar player Alex De Grassi (who was forced out of playing at last year's Moraga festival by a hand injury but still managed to wow the crowd, according to Alban,) and calling attention to the lineage of Latin Jazz drummer René Escovedo, Behan is expecting tickets to disappear quickly.

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De Grassi has a new book, "The Alex De Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method," a note-by-note treatise of how to achieve maximum texture, tone, weight and technique from the human hand. He claims to have slowed down after 35 years of recording and performing.

"I hope to have a new solo project and an album of duos," he writes in an email outlining future projects, belying his "slow down" statement. "I will be touring with guitarist Andrew York, formerly of the Grammy winning L.A. Guitar Quartet. I'm also considering rerecording some of my solo pieces from my early Windham Hill recordings."

Having just completed a successful festival tour to Shanghai, De Grassi says the "rather obscure passion" for playing guitar that, for him, began while listening to musicians like Paul Simon and Leo Kottke, now encompasses a diverse, international scene. He recalls one 11-year old Chinese musician playing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," and another, a Chet Atkins song.

"(Chinese) audiences for acoustic guitar music are definitely newer, younger, and less experienced," he says. "Because the Chinese cannot access YouTube, they have their own version, "Todou," and they had about 15,000 online listeners to the festival."

Alban says local audiences are equally "hungry for music," as evidenced by people who approached her last year, thanking her for bringing world-class talent to the community.

"One woman even had tears on her face," she exclaims. "A great festival is not only great music, but engaging the people so they're a part of it. It's a time to forget your troubles and get exposed to all the talent we have in the Bay Area."

To increase the level of engagement, free workshops have been added. De Grassi and Mads Tolling, violinist, member of the Grammy award-winning Turtle Island Quartet and leader of the Mads Tolling Quartet, will begin 30-minute classes at 3 p.m. At 3:30, Alban, pianist Ben Flint and Escovedo will hold respective voice/flute, jazz piano, and hand-held drumming workshops.

"Education: that's kind of unusual at a festival," Alban says. "I thought it was an important component because jazz could become a dying art form now that music is being cut in schools. People can bring their instruments and I'll have small plastic flutes they can buy for $10 and use at the workshop."

Seating in the auditorium is 140 and the outdoor courtyard will allow for an equal number to hear concurrent performances. A full list of artists and ticket information is available at www.OrindaJazzFestival.org

The proceeds from the event do a neat turnaround, with an Orinda Jazz Festival sponsor lined up as the recipient.

The festival runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Orinda Library, 26 Orinda Way. The music will take place on two stages -- the one in the auditorium and other in the courtyard adjacent to the library. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for students/seniors (www.orindajazzfestival.org). For more details, email orindajazz@gmail.com or call 925-255-5164.